Mooring device



y2, 6. c. A. DAVIS 2,403,057

MOORING DEVICE Filed Ap ril 26, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented July 2, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOORING DEVICE Charles A. Davis, Peoria,Ill.

Application April 26, 1944, Serial No. 532,734

3 Claims. 1

My invention relates to mooring devices and more particularly to amooring device mounted on the deck of a boat. Mooring cleats and posts,in common usage, usually project above the deck of a boat or ship insuch a position as to occupy useful space or hazard free movement bypersons or of lines or ropes to be used in the operation of the vessel.Some devices, while eliminating-these diiiiculties, impose others in thenecessity for maintaining at hand loose appurtenances necessary toeffect secure fastening or by occupying needed space below deck, or bybeing of such weight as to render their use undesirable by operators oflight weight craft used for racing.

The object of this invention is to overcome these difficulties and toprovide a, means for quickly and securely fastening mooring, or otherlines to the deck, and for easily detaching such fastening. The deviceis flush mounting and consists of no parts not permanently afiixed tothe vessel orits mooring. It is of such nature that there is noobstruction above deck when the vessel is in use or away from itsmooring, and such that there is a decidedly reduced requirement of spacebelow deck by the device at any time. Uses other than those mentionedwill be obvious from the description to follow, which description,considered along with the accompanying drawings, explains one way ofapplying the device. These disclosures are merely to illustrate theprinciple of the invention.

The objects stated are attained by means of the parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective of the entiredevice as it would appear looking forward on the deck of a vessel;Figure 2, a perspective showing the two main parts disengaged, as theymight appear looking forward in preparation for making fast to orcasting off from the mooring; Fig. 3, a plan view of the flush mountingdeck plate; Fig. 4, a cross section of this plate on the line 4--4 Fig.3, with added details to show a method of securing this plate to a lightdeck; Fig. 5, a, plan view of the mooring line thimble portion of thedevice; Fig. 6, a cross section of this thimble on the line li-6,Fig. 5;Fig. '7, a cross section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 3 which line is locatednear the maximum width of the engaged parts, also showing a crosssection on the same plane of the mooring line thimble when fullyengaged, and added details of the fastening to the deck; Fig. 8, a crosssection on the line 8-8 of Fig. 3 which line is located near the minimumwidth of the engaged parts, the illustration being otherwise similar toFig. 7; and

Fig. 9, a perspective view showing the bow portion of a small vessellying at its mooring with the device in use.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In Fig. 1 the deck I of usual construction for a small boat is shownwith the flush mounting deck plate 2 let into the deck and held byscrews or bolts 3 passing into or through the deck or a reinforcingplate 4, Fig. 4, beneath the deck, whichever arrangement gives adequatestrength, and with the mooring line thimble 5 held in place by themethod to be described, having the mooring line 6 attached along with asafety line i spliced into its thimble 8 which has previously beenattached to the mooring line thimble through the open ring 9 integralwith the mooring line thimble, and provided for that purpose. The safetyline 7 is advantageous in providing a fastening for pick-up or markingbuoys or attaching dinghy, when vessel is away from mooring.

Reference to Fig. 2 discloses the method of engaging the two parts ofthe invention by show ing on the underside of and integral with themooring line thimble 5, the appearance of a sliding T head ID, theengaging portions forming the arms I I of the T which are inclinedtoward each other. The angle between the aims II is designed to be smallenough so that engaging surfaces l3 of the sliding T head will notdisengage from the mating T slot surfaces I2 in the deck plate 2 withoutsome appreciable pull in direction opposite to that applied by themooring line in restraining the vessel at its mooring, which could notdevelop within the mooring line itself; but this angle is also largeenough to prevent wedging to such extent that inconvenient force wouldbe required to disengage the connecting members. The two similarengaging anms ll of the T head Ill are further formed with surfaces l3inclined to each other, at a constant angle all along their length, in amanner contrived to prevent lost motion between them and the matingsurfaces I2 in the deck plate as these eight surfaces wear in use. Thesliding T head Ill and T slot latch l2 are preferably, though notnecessarily, designed so that clearance exists between the verticalsurfaces 14 of the slidin T head on the mooring line thimble 5, and thevertical surfaces I5 of the corresponding T slot I2 in the deck plate 2,in order to assure bearing as intended, only on the sloping portions I3of the T head and of their mating surfaces l2 in the T slot. To attachthe line to the vessel, the assembly of the thimble 5, with its integralT head Figure 3, a plan view of the flush mounting the mooring device inuse.

ing members, while Fig. 8 shows how their width has decreased due to thetaper described. Fig. '7 and Fig. 8 also illustrate the unchanging angleexisting between each pair of the engaging surfaces 13, on the sliding Thead, and the corresponding surfaces 12 of the T slot, it being observedthat these angles are the same in both of the sections shown.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the forward portion of a small boatlying at its mooring, with Fig. 9 thus serves to illustrate in a generalway, the relative orientation of the parts in such an installation.

deck plate 2, which contains the T slot l2, shows.

shown in dotted lines on Fig, 5, the importance of this feature beingthat before any wear has occurred, th mating surfaces are to be justcompletely engaged, but as any wear develops, the sliding T head of themooring thimble may occupy positions further toward the narrow end ofthe T slot in the deck plate, with no change in the operatingcharacteristics of the device,

Figure 4 shows a section on line 44 of Fig. 3, which further clarifiesthe design of the flush mounting deck plate and illustrates a possiblemethod of fastening to a light weight deck. It is apparent that the deckplate need not be flush mounting, and the illustration is intended toshow only one possible way of applying the invention. Figure 5illustrates the mooring thimble 5 and T head In in more complete detail,showing a design intended to be permanently spliced into the mooring orother line. Fig. 6, a cross section on line 6-6 of Fig. 5, shows furtherdetails of the mating surfaces on the projecting sliding T head as wellas recesses for reducing the weight of the part. It is obvious thatcleats, belaying pins, winches, dead eyes, and appurtenances other thanthethimble shown could be incorporated as an integral part of theprojecting sliding T head shown, and it is the purpose of theseillustrations to show th principle of the fastening without limiting itto the particular application shown.

Figure 7 and Figure 8 are sections on the lines 1-! and 88, respectivelyof Fig. 3, having added the integral mooring-line thimble 5 and slidingT head In in the engaged position, and a portion of a typical deck I.These views considered in relation to each other further illustrate thetaper of the arms ll of the sliding T head and their correspondingslots, in that Fig. 7 is a section on a line through a wider portion ofthe connect- I claim:

. 1. In a mooring device, a. flush face deck plate havinga depressedopen section in alignment with a tapered .T slot section, a mooring linethimble having a projecting mating T head section for the T slot sectionin the deck plate proportioned and formed for insertion in the T slotsection through the open section, the transverse projecting sections ofthe T head parts being formed in mated angular keyed relationship withthe sections tapered longitudinally away from the open slot, thearrangement providing a snug gripping latched fit in the longitudinaldirection away from the slot and reverse release movement by relativelylight manual force, and a safety line ring integral with the mooringline thimble providing attachment means to either a buoy or a vessel.

2. In a mooring device, a flush face deck plate having a depressed opensection in alignment with a T slot section, a mooring line thimblehaving a projecting mating T head section for the slot section in thedeck plate proportioned and formed for insertion in the T slot sectionthrough the open section, the transverse projecting sections of the Tparts being formed in mated keyed relationship, the arrangementproviding a snug grippin latched fit in the longitudinal direction awayfrom the slot and reverse release movement by relatively light manualforce, and a safety line ring integral with the mooring line thimbleproviding attachment means to either a buoy or a vessel.

3. In a mooring device, a flush faced deck plate having a depressed keyslot, a mooring line thimble having a projecting key sectionproportioned and formed for insertion in the key slot section of thedeck plate, and a safety line ring integral with the thimble, thearrangement providing means to safely attach the thimble to either avessel or a buoy.

CHARLES A. DAVIS.

